Namak Pare or Namak Para is crispy delicious deep fried savoury Indian snacks or crackers. The addition of ajwain and kalonji gives a delicate flavour and tempting aroma to classic namak pare recipe. They make an ultimate snack to nosh on, along with a morning or evening tea. So, what are you waiting for? Pamper yourself with this classic namak para this winter or monsoon. Here is how to make namak pare recipe at home
Namak Pare
Hey all, Hope this chilling vacation of yours is extremely enjoyable. Coming back to the word chilling or I must say winter season, I thought it would be favorable if I share winter recipes on the blog. So, here, today I’m up with the very amazing Punjabi Namak Pare recipe. Well, it isn’t a rare recipe for us Indians, as we are well versed with such delicacies. Be it winter, any festival like Holi or Diwali, having Namak Para is always on the top of the list. It is easy, less time consuming and delicious.
You can preserve namak pare in an air tight container and keep at every nook and corner of your house, so that you don’t have to step into your kitchen again and again. Make them in bulk in one attempt itself and preserve it for a longer period of time. You can keep Namak Paare in your bedroom if you get highly hungry late at night or on your dining table for popping it in directly whenever you feel hunger striking you a bit . Even if you have guests coming to your place, you can serve to them. These home-made desi crackers are tastier at another level.
Namak Paare
As much as we love the Namak Paare, Masala Nimki and Pudiney Ke Namak Paare is very much enjoyed by me and my family.
During my chilhood, I remember my elders making it and keeping it in a container. And, to be honest we ate crisp yummy Namak Paare day and night. The aroma of namak paare while deep frying it is still stuck in my head and, I can’t ever get over it. Namak Paare is still my favorite cracker even my kids now love it to the core. My kiddos get anxious to give a shape to the dough of their choice.
I still remember when my grandma or mommy used to make Namak Pare recipe, and I sat beside them to give different shapes to the dough. My most favorite was the bird and the star. I used to get super excited while seeing it get fried as I was advised to stay away from the bubbling hot oil pot as a safety measure. And, the sooner it used to get fried, the earlier I used to run away with my birdie Namak Para.
Namak Para Ingredients:
Now coming down to the ingredients, you can count it on your fingers. All I have used is Maida i.e. all-purpose flour, Desi Ghee (purified butter), Ajwain (carom seed), Kalonji, Salt to taste, Water to knead the dough and Oil for deep frying. It is very easy to arrange these ingredients and it hardly takes any time to knead the dough and roll it onto the kitchen platform or the rolling pin and give it a cubical shape or diamond shaped. Furthermore, you can also replace maida with atta (whole wheat flour) if you wish to. You can aso opt to use 1:1 ratio of maida and whole wheat flour to make namak pare recipe.
Namak Pare Recipe
Namak Pare
Ingredients
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour ((Maida))
- 5 tablespoons Ghee ( or Oil)
- 1 teaspoon Carom Seeds (Ajwain)
- 1 teaspoon Nigella Seeds (Kalonji)
- Water to knead the dough
- Oil ( for frying)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add maida, ghee, kalonji, ajwain and salt, mix well. Now, start mixing with fingers to crumble them well. To check, hold the crumbled mixture into a fist and it will form a shape.
- Gradually, add water and start kneading the dough. The dough should be firm. Do not add too much at a time as we need firm dough, it should not be soft. Cover the dough with clean damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Once the dough is ready, divide the dough into equal balls. Take one one ball and roll out in to disc with thickness of 4-5 mm. ( Keep rest of the dough balls covered with cloth while working with one dough ball). Simultaneously, heat enough oil in deep pan/kadhai.
- Now, cut shape the rolled disc into long strip of 2-3 inches using a sharp knife. However, you can give diamond cut shape also to namak pare, or shape them as per your choice.
- When the oil is hot, simmer the heat to medium low. Slide the namak paare gently into the hot oil
- Fry the namak pare until they are golden brown and crisp. Do not over fry them and do not fry them on very high heat. High heat will burn the namak paare, also, they will remain uncooked within
- Drain onto absorbent paper and repeat the same for all the dough balls. Cool namak paare completely. Store them in a clean airtight container at room temperature easily for more than a month. Serve them as a snack with tea or coffee.
Notes
Nutrition
How to make namak pare recipe
In a large bowl, add maida, ghee, kalonji, ajwain and salt, mix well. Now, start mixing with fingers to crumble them well. To check, hold the crumbled mixture into a fist and it will form a shape.
Gradually, add water and start kneading the dough. The dough should be firm. Do not add too much at a time as we need firm dough, it should not be soft. Cover the dough with clean damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Once the dough is ready, divide the dough into equal balls. Take one one ball and roll out in to disc with thickness of 4-5 mm. ( Keep rest of the dough balls covered with cloth while working with one dough ball). Simultaneously, heat enough oil in deep pan/kadhai.
Now, cut shape the rolled disc into long strip of 2-3 inches using a sharp knife. However, you can give diamond cut shape also to namak pare, or shape them as per your choice.
When the oil is hot, simmer the heat to medium low. Slide the namak paare gently into the hot oil
Fry the namak pare until they are golden brown and crisp. Do not over fry them and do not fry them on very high heat. High heat will burn the namak paare, also, they will remain uncooked within
Drain onto absorbent paper and repeat the same for all the dough balls. Cool the namak pare completely. Store them in a clean airtight container at room temperature easily for more than a month. Serve namak para as a snack with tea or coffee.
Jacklyn says
Wow your pics are amazing and tempting ? Delicious love it
Farrukh Aziz says
Thank you very much Jacklyn 🙂